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Chapter 1144 Longxi Li Family (Part )

Li Yuan founded the Tang Dynasty and acknowledged that he was descended from the Longxi Li family.

The Li family built an ancestral temple for Li Hong in Lintao, and one ancestor from each of the four ancestral branches established the Li clan elders council. They were Li Gu, the eighth-generation grandson of Li Hong, who had a pedigree, Li Chen, the eldest grandson of Li Wang and Li Hu, and Li Qing, the second-generation grandson.

Although Li Yuan claimed to be from the Longxi Li family, it is strange that after Li Yuan founded the country, he did not come to worship his ancestors, nor did he let his prince come to offer sacrifices.

However, this did not affect the Longxi Li family and the other two branches of Li Hu. With the help of this statement, they built temples and ancestral temples for their ancestors in Lintao, Longxi. They used this as an excuse to win over the power of various branches of the Li family and used this as a basis to rapidly expand their strength.

Although the expansion of the Longxi Li family brought many hidden dangers to the Li Tang, it also provided strong support for strengthening the Li family's power and stabilizing the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, Li Yuan turned a blind eye to it, and Li Shimin was helpless.

The existence of this country within a country made him extremely wary, but he had to accept it with a pinch of his nose.

In the two days after the court meeting, representatives of Shandong clans such as Lu, Cui, and Zhao, as well as old aristocratic clans such as Yuan, Yuwen, Dou, Dugu, Yu, Wei, Du, Xue, Yang, Houmo, Doulu, Daxi, and Helan among the Guanlong nobles came.

They all sent important figures to the Longxi Li family's "ancestral temple" to discuss matters. The Longxi Li family has become the representative of the Guanlong clan.

In the solemn and dignified ancestral temple in the north of Lintao City, representatives of various clans burned incense and kowtowed respectfully.

Afterwards, everyone came to a meeting hall nearby, where representatives from each family told the four elders of the Li family about the worrying current situation, especially the Turks' move to divide the land, which would shake the foundations of all the clans.

Upon hearing this, Li Gu, the leader of the four ancestors of the Longxi Li family, said calmly: "Everyone, I already know why you are here. However, you should know that the Longxi Flying Cavalry can only be used to protect the ancestral land. It must not be used lightly unless the family's survival is at stake."

The Longxi Flying Cavalry was the last force of the aristocratic family. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, due to Yang Jian's kindness and winning over, the Sui Dynasty achieved unprecedented development. Later, Yang Jian came forward to persuade the descendants of the six pillars of the country to discuss it.

He also believed that the dispersion of military power would only lead to endless wars. In order to establish a strong and unified dynasty, he decided to hand over military power to further promote integration.

However, everyone surrendered most of their troops, and each family kept 20% to 30% to protect themselves, which led to the prosperous Sui Dynasty. When Yang Guang attacked the nobles later, it was with the last 20% to 30% that the nobles were able to turn the tide.

Based on past experience, after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, each family strengthened the strength of these two or three levels. Just to avoid the large-scale internal strife during the time of Yang Guang, the military forces of each clan were concentrated together and placed in the vast land of the northwest.

On the one hand, it can guard the northwest, resist the Turks, and safeguard Chang'an, the heart of the Tang Dynasty; on the other hand, it can also avoid arousing the fear of the imperial power.

In fact, the Longxi Li family alone could not afford to support this kind of military force.

Every year, the noble families in Guanlong had to spend huge amounts of money to support them. Since the Li family was originally a royal family, everyone unanimously elected the Longxi Li family to take charge.

The true and false, real and fake relationship between the Longxi Li family and the royal Li family also destined them to not rebel and bring threat to the dynasty; at the same time, it was also necessary to restrain the Li royal family to prevent them from abandoning them and repeating Yang Guang's mistakes.

This is the method of checks and balances that the nobles came up with after the Yang family's "rebellion".

If Li Yan knew about this, he would definitely be amazed. The wisdom of the ancients should not be underestimated. If the Hongnong Yang family had such a force at the time, Yang Guang would probably not have dared to launch the three expeditions to Goguryeo so easily, right?
Even when Yang Guang acted on his own for the first time, they could have taken him down and replaced him with someone who would obey them. Even worse, when Yang Guang got the situation out of hand, they could have calmly cleaned it up and not let Li Yuan take advantage.

However, precisely because it is far away from Chang'an, the world does not know what scale the army has grown to and how many troops it has.

Since each family contributes money and food, they naturally need to have real-time knowledge.

The annual expenses of the cavalry were calculated and distributed to each family. Each family sent a varying number of core family members to serve in the army according to the amount of resources they contributed, and they also enjoyed the same level of protection.

After years of operation, a stable system has been formed.

The people who came to Lintao this time were all representatives of the heads of the various families. They expressed to the Longxi Li family their wish to use the Longxi flying cavalry to quickly eliminate the Turkish cavalry in Hebei. If they could get their consent, they would naturally determine the number of troops and the procedure for dispatching.

Of course, there are also several Shandong nobles who have come to seek help. If they want to mobilize the resources of the Guanlong nobles to regain their own territory, they naturally have to offer benefits that are attractive enough to attract the Guanlong nobles. All of these need to be discussed face to face.

As soon as Li Gu finished speaking, everyone looked at Lu Yigong, who knew the specific situation best.

So Lu Yigong came forward and recounted the "atrocities" committed by the Turks against them in Fanyang, and then persuaded them earnestly: "Chief Li, while staying in Yi County, the Lu family also wants to rely on Yi County to organize a defense line." "Trap the Turks in Fanyang and wait for the court army to come to resist the enemy."

"But they are all cavalry, coming and going like the wind. In addition to killing, they also use vicious psychological tactics. The Turks have gathered people from all directions to go to Ji County to share the land. This enemy is worthy of death, and its wisdom is far beyond the previous Hu bandits."

"Lu immediately made a decision and left Yi County. Not long after, we heard that Yi County was conquered in just half a day. Most of the soldiers defending the city came from nearby villages. When they heard about the land distribution, they did not resist at all."

"Just imagine, in this situation, although there are many cities in Hebei, the only ones who are willing to defend to the death are our noble families. Compared with the nearly 300,000 vicious Turks, what is more terrifying is that they use land to lure millions of civilians."

"The fall of Hebei will only make this force stronger. This is a wave that can sweep across the world. Once it reaches a certain scale, no matter Hedong, Henan, Qi, Jiangnan, or Guanzhong, they will be unable to escape."

After listening to this, Li Gu's snow-white eyebrows sank, and he looked at the other three people and frowned. He was not completely ignorant of the affairs in Hebei. In fact, he was more concerned about emergencies in various parts of the country than the other ministers in the court, or even the emperor.

The confrontation with imperial power is no less than teetering on the edge of a knife. How can we take it lightly?
All their attention was focused on the royal family, believing that in the world today, apart from the royal family, there was no other force that could threaten the aristocratic families.

Apart from the emperor, no one would dare to challenge their authority.

Every once in a while, they would receive news from younger officials of their own clan in Chang'an. It was said that the emperor was kind, gentle, and modest, and he was very kind to his ministers and would readily accept their advice.

In the three or four months since he ascended the throne, he has never had any quarrels or arguments with his ministers.

Many noble families were very relieved. This kind of emperor was exactly what they needed, and he would not target them. The Li clan elders far away in Lintao were also very relieved. This meant that they could put their minds at ease when the new emperor came.

Unexpectedly, when the emperor became obedient, the Turks, an alien group, emerged.

Nomadic peoples and agricultural peoples are naturally opposed. This year you attack me, and next year I attack you again. Li Gu is old and used to seeing these fights, and never takes them to heart. I didn't expect that the Turks would invade the south, so what? Why divide the land?
How does this benefit the Turks?
However, Li Gu, who was used to seeing conspiracies and intrigues, still relied on his years of vigilance and subconsciously asked: "How is Li Shimin doing now?"

'Well'

The person from the Wei clan who came this time was Wei Mingshan, the cousin of Wei Ting.

After the marriage between the Wei family and the crown prince, their status was significantly improved, and they became the rising generation among the Guanlong nobles. Upon hearing this, they immediately bowed and said, "Report to the head of the Li family, the emperor has fainted since the day after the emperor ascended the throne. He is hanging on to his last breath, like a living dead man."

"Why does Patriarch Li ask this question?"

Li Gu stroked his beard and said doubtfully, "I have also heard about the Turkic civil strife some time ago. After the Battle of Hengling, the Turkic tribe was divided into the Right Wise King and the Great Khan. Without the material support from the west, it is understandable that Shi Luodie wants to attack the Tang Dynasty."

"Logically speaking, even if the Turks went south, they would only plunder the grass and grain to get some money and food to spend the winter."

"But this time, Shi Luodie went deep into the heartland of the Tang Dynasty without caring about anything, and even targeted my noble family, dividing land and winning over ordinary people. This doesn't seem like something that the Turks would do, so I am a little suspicious."

"Will the royal family be involved in this matter?"

"A few years ago, Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling and others came up with a tax system that required officials and gentry to serve as officials, which made the whole place chaotic. This time, the Turks are starting with land, so I am a little worried."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall suddenly understood. Wei Mingshan immediately said, "So that's how it is. Patriarch Li is worried that the retired emperor will use his fainting spell to hide in the dark and target our clan? Patriarch Li, please don't worry too much about this."

"To be honest, we are also very concerned about the emperor."

"In the bedroom of the Zichen Hall in the Daming Palace, all the people around the emperor are ours."

"Whether it's the imperial physician who comes to treat the emperor every other day, or the eunuchs who serve the emperor, or the close relatives who wash the emperor's body and feed him ginseng soup to keep him alive, or even the secret guards who stand guard in every corner of the house, we have spies on them."

"They have been monitoring him continuously for twelve hours, staring at him without blinking. As long as the emperor shows signs of waking up, we will be the first to know. We can be sure that the emperor has not woken up."

(End of this chapter)